Systemic View

Leaders influence us by helping us understand what we should do. They have a lot of power because of their followers, and they can cause shifts in the structure of our society.

I used to think of leadership as an innate quality that some “natural leaders” were just born with, but there are simple, specific actions that anyone can do to lead. Leadership is a learnable set of skills. I had this realization about twenty-five years ago and it really shifted how I perceived society. Since then, I've been actively collecting small leadership skills and trying them out. The smaller the skill, the easier it is to learn and the more situations you can use it for!

Last week, I asked a few prominent leaders around town for the specific things actions they take to lead others effectively. Here are some of their responses!

"One leadership principle I lean on regularly is staying focused, especially when there’s noise, uncertainty, or shifting priorities. A phrase I often remind myself (and sometimes my team) is: 'Distractions are often loud, but purpose is louder.'

Whether it’s a crisis, a competing opinion, or just the day-to-day chaos, I try to keep our focus anchored on the core mission. That clarity tends to cut through a lot of noise and helps people know where to put their energy."

Fred Newell

Frederick Newell, founder of Dream City and leader in many other ways

 

 

  • "In every meeting, repeat the mission even when it feels totally stupid to repeat it again. Talk about how it relates to the meeting you’re having and why you are having the meeting."
  • "Don’t start a meeting with just a list of topics to discuss. Plan a specific time and goal for each item."
  • "Be funny. When you have a clear structure, you can bring humor in without derailing."

Michal Eynon-Lynch

Michal Eynon-Lynch, founder of RSFIC and leader in many other ways

 

"Keep your eye on the ball. It’s easy to get caught up in the means and not the end. Make sure you are focusing on the outcome you want and not spending a lot of time arguing about the 'how.'"

Simon Andrew

Simon Andrew, ED of the Housing Fellowship and leader in many other ways!

(Simon is the human pictured)

 

“In broad strokes,  the complete approach is select the right people, impart the mission on to them, empower them to be decision makers, and then I want them to trust their instincts. Trusting the team to trust themselves can yield amazing results.”

Andrew Sherburne

Andrew Sherburne, cofounder & ED of FilmScene (and leader in many other ways ;) )

These are all experienced leaders of organizations and communities. Their skill levels are so high that some of their advice basically makes it sound like, yeah ok, they’re just one of those “natural leaders.” So I asked my 12-year-old son what specific things he does when he wants to invite others to join him in an activity like tag or night games. He said:

  • "Be direct... use a clear voice"
  • "Don’t ramble"
  • "Work hard on flyers and don’t just scribble down words"
  • "Just try something and see if it goes well"


I seriously think that these four skills alone would get you pretty far towards any goal you might have!

I've found that focusing on the concrete behaviors of leadership rather than the mystique and charisma of successful leaders has helped me become a better leader myself. More importantly, it's helped me de-mystify what's going on in society, and makes it easier for me to see patterns and forces at the systemic level.

 

Things you might like to join this week

One of my own leadership skills is finding opportunities for folks to contribute something meaningful. I believe that everyone loves to feel a sense of belonging connected to feelings of autonomous competence, so I look for tasks or projects that are important to me, and then find people that I think have the skills to complete them. Then I invite those people to take on those projects!

Every event we share in this newsletter builds local solidarity by connecting people to a source of power that they can access together. This is important to RSFIC’s mission of building long-term, systemic resilience, because united we stand and divided we fall. So, if you’re someone looking for a meaningful task, just try something and see if it goes well. 🙂

Friday October 24th (tonite!!)

Parking map

Saturday October 25th

Sunday October 26th

Monday October 27th

Tuesday October 28th

Wednesday October 29th

Thursday October 30th

Friday October 31st

 

Gatos en Ronda flyer

 

Elections

Should politicians be leaders or just represent us? I think this is a pretty interesting question - locally, we have some politicians who consider active leadership kind of rude, others who spend a lot of time actively leading, and of course many who do different mixes of both. Do we want a school board member to be educating the public about AI, or do we want them just to make decisions based on what they believe the public already thinks? Do we want councilors organizing demonstrations or is it enough for them to just do their best to make good decisions?

At RSFIC we want everyone leading all the time, because we believe our current way of life will end, and we need as many leaders as we can get trying to find new ways of life. Over the years we’ve held a few events to connect Iowa Citians with local politicians. Check out this election season’s suggested activity! You can do it on your own, or we can help you lead an activity with your neighbors. Just reply to this email or fill out the inquiry form at the bottom of the activity page.

 

Peace,

Riley

Co-founder of RSFIC

 

 

PS: I'm trying out a new "self-hosted" email system today, with better privacy, lower environmental impact, and more local control over how it works and who it serves (just you and me!). Please let me know if it comes out garbled or otherwise weird.

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